In the Halls
by Hellfire1258
Summary: On the evening of a celebratory bash for Hermione someone is missing. The young woman goes looking for the missing man. Who knew it might end up with them pressed against a wall?


A/N: Well folks, this is my first published story in a long time. Be nice to me…

Disclaimer:

I own nothing. I didn't make any money from this… if I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it, would I?

There was not much Hermione Granger didn't know. She had, without any medical training, gone back to the Shrieking Shack after the Final Battle and revived the person left there to die. As his eyes cleared, they focused on the war grimy girl in front of him. He said nothing for a moment, and then said, "You saved me." Hermione threw her arms around her former professor and let him sob into her shoulder before making their way back to the castle. A year later, she graduated from Hogwarts; she went on to greater things. She received her Potions Mistress title after several years of apprenticing to Severus Snape, where neither one of them brought up the fact she had saved him on the night of the Final Battle. The tests were rigorous, but the young witch proved herself. On the evening of her celebratory party, there was not much on her mind as she was at ease with friends. But someone was missing. With the knowledge of a library neatly tucked away inside her brain, she headed out in search of the one person who could have rivaled her in wit and brainpower. What she didn't count on was to find him arguing. He was arguing with himself, of all people he could have been giving the verbal abuse to.

The quiet sound of her shoes should have warned the wizard in question she was coming up on him. He didn't seem to notice because his own shoes were clacking on the stone floor as he paced. Black strands of hair hung in his face as he walked with his head hung. Hermione didn't want to interrupt the ponderings of the man, so she hid behind a suit of armor to wait for him to finish. It surprised the young witch when he leaded his forehead against the wall and spoke dejectedly.

"What was I thinking? I'm just a dirty old man… She's not interested. The look on her face when you offered to take her to dinner said enough. Utter disgust at mere thought of spending time with me outside the lab. And to think I wanted more. I thought that we could be something…" the man whispered the last part.

Hermione stood behind the metal of her hiding place, shocked at what she had overheard. Severus had indeed asked her to dinner, just hours ago. What he had mistook as disgust was surprise at the offer. Before she had a chance to reply, he spun on his heels and stormed out of the nearest door.

The entire time they had spent together, working long hours, he had never shown any real interest in her. There were times when Hermione dressed a little more provocatively, trying to gage his reaction; but there had been nothing. He would just hand her a lab coat, barely looking at the carefully styled hair and makeup. His eyes would ghost over the low cut top and high skirt. She had given up in the end. And now, listening to his heart wrenching confession, her heart broke for the man in front of her. It may have been to a wall and not really eloquent, but from the man it was coming from the meaning was apparent.

She was about to come out of hiding to go comfort the broken man in front of her, when he spoke again. The anguish was apparent in his voice, and his body shuddered with dry sobs. He had brought one hand up and was hitting the wall. She could hear the smack of the knuckles each time they made contact.

"She must have saved me out of some silly Gryffindor morals. There can't have been anything behind the action. But, the hair and the makeup she wore. My god, the _clothes__**… **_The girl never looked like that for anyone else. Not even the brainless Weasley, who was constantly mooning over her. I should have said something, done something. Now, my chance has past." The soft sound of his hand on the wall brought Hermione out of the daze she was in. He had noticed, after all. With all of the Gryffindor courage she could muster, she walked out from behind the armor, and straight to the man against the wall.

This time, the sound of her shoes didn't escape Severus. He whipped his head in the direction of the sound, hiding the bloody hand behind him and using the other to whip tears off of his face. This was the last person in the world he wanted to see. He silently prayed Hermione hadn't heard him. But, going by the look on her face, she had. There was a gentleness in her eyes he hadn't seen since he woke up in her arms after almost dying. Her hips swung slightly, as if enticing him with their soft motion.

"Severus, I never…" she started to say. She had reached him by this time and was standing uncomfortably close. Her nose was almost skimming his chest, her chest almost pressed against him. He looked down at the woman standing close. Her soft, peach lips parted slightly. A moment passed, and then she surprised him. Hermione tugged on Severus's arm, trying to pull it from behind him.

"Woman, what are you doing?" he barked at her.

"Hush, Severus…" she answered back. Finally her relented and let Hermione pull his arm out from behind him. "Oh…" she murmured over the broken knuckles and scraped skin. Hermione looked up at him before pulling her wand out of her pocket. She waved it over his arm, healing the wounds. Warmth seeped up his arm. Hermione ran her fingers over the newly healed skin. Severus marveled at the feeling of her small ministrations. Never had such small touches affected him in such a way. Even while she held his hand in hers, he couldn't help but feel the despair creeping back into him from earlier.

"There is nothing I can say to excuse what I said earlier. I can only guess what you must have heard. I do not want you to feel obligated in any way to respond." The pain was seeping through every word he spoke. The speech may have been formal, but Hermione could tell that he was generally sincere. He bowed his head, not really wanting to look at the woman standing in front of him.

"You left me earlier, before I could even respond to the dinner date. I would love to go anywhere with you Severus. Even if that's as simple as to dinner or as impossible as walking to the moon and back." Hermione responded. He just shook his head. He wasn't even listening to her because he had already decided what her next words would be. Hermione could have told him she wanted to be taken against the nearest wall and Severus still would shake his head no, that he understood her rejection. So, to fix the problem, Hermione did something very un-Hermione like. She took Severus's face in her hands and pressed her lips against his.

At first, there was nothing. Severus didn't move or respond in any way to the kiss. Just before Hermione pulled away in embarrassment, she felt the smallest twitch from the man before her. Encouraged, Hermione moves her lips, trying to entice another reaction from Severus. It worked. Hesitantly, he pushed back into Hermione. Maybe she imagined it, but she could have sworn Severus sighed before deepening the kiss. He slipped a hand behind her delicate neck and tilted her head back. Hermione rested her hands on his chest, lightly tracing patterns there.

There wasn't much thought left between the two as Severus pushed Hermione against the closest wall while trailing kisses down her neck. Her breath hitched as her back hit the cold stone wall and then he took her around the waist and lifted her up. She gasped and his bravado and wrapped her legs around his waist. Severus took the opportunity to attack her mouth again. She ran her fingers over his shoulders. She then pulled him closer, so his body was flush against hers. She broke the kiss, he body shuddering.

"Severus, take me to your rooms. I have a feeling this conversation could be in need of a little more privacy in the next couple of minutes. Especially if we continue this way…" she nodded southward, toward the noticeable bulge pressing into her bum. He kissed her ripe mouth once more before setting her on the ground. Severus, always straight laced, straightened his robes in an attempt to hide his arousal. When he decided it was useless, Severus just grabbed Hermione's hand and they took off down the halls. They weren't quite running, but each step echoed off the walls. Each step was a promise of what was to come. Each echo their feet made echoed from the dungeon as a moan from Hermione. The number of times Severus's cloak flapped behind him as they made their way down the halls was the number of times Severus grunted in ecstasy…


End file.
